Timely Relations
by August Mayhem
Summary: During team training, Sakura wakes up in the same place she fell asleep. But she soon finds that the people are no where near the same. Will she be able to cope long enough to find her way home?
1. Chapter 1

Story: Timely Relations

Author: August Mayhem

Disclaimer: I don't own characters or settings. Anything that follows canon is not mine. This is a continuous disclaimer and I won't re-post it every chapter.

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Chapter 1

Plip. Plop. Plip. Plop.

Darkness shrouded her immediate perception; inky swirls of nothingness moving close before sweeping away. Slowly, ever so slowly, she felt opened her eyes. Feeling small wet drops on her face and other patches of bared skin, she knew it was raining. Blurry shapes of dark colors filled her vision. Evening had just recently passed, though there was enough still-light to differentiate between the trees of Konoha's forests, the sky and the ground that was quickly turning to mud beneath her.

Taking stock of her injuries, she sat up, looking around for the two idiots who were undoubtedly responsible for her being knocked out. Not seeing them anywhere, the pink-haired kunoichi came to the conclusion that the boys hadn't noticed her in the heat of their battle and had moved elsewhere and later forgot about her. Made sense since the three of them began training just before noon on a bright, sunny, -summer-day. And it was now night.

She quickly healed herself of minor scrapes and bruises and the broken ankle that was beginning to swell, before standing up and making her way towards Konoha.

"NARUTO!!!!! SASUKE!!!!!" She was slightly furious that the two morons had left her outside when it was raining. Her thoughts turned to the wonderfully therapeutic beating she would give them once she found them.

Grrrrrwl. And had something to eat… That came first. She had long since outgrown the idea of dieting as a way to stay slim and trim. Well, to be completely truthful, Tsunade had smacked her around the head one day after Sakura had collapsed in the hospital. She never skipped a meal after that.

She quickened her pace to a steady jog on a path that would hopefully lead to the village. It was easy to get turned around in these forests, and her stomach was growing more and more demanding.

******

Kakashi observed Rin and his sensei as they finished their food while chatting about their prior training in the rain and how it was a good exercise in adaptation to the environment. He sighed and looked out the window. It had been over a month since Obito had died in battle. His team had been put on a leave of absence to recover from that particular mission. Team training had just resumed a week ago.

It was still odd for him to have a new eye. It brought forth a whole new level of clarity and responses to his body. That had been part of the reason he had been training by himself. He had to re-teach himself the basics, so his body could get used to the reactions the eye instilled.

Briefly his hand rose up to touch the hitai-ate that covered his borrowed eye. He had learned early on that if uncovered, it would 'memorize' everything it saw; and every event would be forever burned into his mind. He had very little control over the damned thing. Probably because he wasn't an Uchiha.

He stood when Arashi-sensei and Rin did and together they walked out of the restaurant. About to walk back to his apartment, Kakashi paused when Arashi-sensei's voice broke through the rain.

"In the next 2-3 weeks, the Sandaime and I will be trying to find another student to make this a 3-man cell again. If, however we do not succeed, we will continue to do missions as is, occasionally taking on a shinobi from another team or a chuunin if the mission requires it. Until then, continue training on your off-time and we'll concentrate on you two working together in fights."

As a group they walked toward the Hokage tower. Kakashi slightly hunched, listening to the conversation with one ear.

******

Sakura made her way through the muddy streets toward the Hokage tower. She had wandered about the forests for a few hours in the pouring rain before finally finding a path that led into the village. Thankfully she could continue her way under the awnings of stalls and restaurants.

Peering ahead, she saw 3 dim vague shapes. As she got closer, the brilliant blonde of Naruto's hair was visible. He seemed to be wearing that stupid open cloak with flames flickering along the bottom. The colors seemed a bit odd, but maybe the blonde idiot had finally given up his obsession with orange. Kakashi's odd hairstyle was also visible, despite his slouch. The third body looked nothing like the Sasuke she knew, but Sakura figured Naruto had just pulled a prank on the stiff Uchiha. Not like it hadn't happened multiple times since he came back with Naruto, she snorted.

Quickly running to catch up, she jumped and slammed a chakra-enhanced punch on the blonde head.

"Naruto no baka! Why the hell'd you leave me out in the forest?? Dumbass! I don't have your wonderful immune system! I actually get sick from things like the rain and cold. Especially if they happen at the same time!!"

Team 4 was startled by the loud voice yelling at their sensei. Kakashi had heard footsteps but figured the person was just running home to get out of the rain. Rin was too caught up in her conversation to really notice. So it was a shock when Arashi-sensei, in mid sentence no less, suddenly stumbled forward yelping in pain and cradling his head. All three turned to stare at the pink-haired girl as she yelled at the blonde man.

Once her tirade had finished, Sakura huffed and crossed her arms, half glaring at the 3 idiotic men before her. Though inside she was giddy that she had caught Kakashi and Sasuke off guard. Not something one accomplished every day, especially her!

Not hearing a whiny excuse from Naruto and a muffled laugh from Kakashi and Sasuke, she stopped and looked at the 3 bodies in front of her.

The blonde was a good foot and a half taller than Naruto, and his cloak was white with red flames. Sasuke was a girl with purple stripes on each cheek and her upper arms. And Kakashi was staring at her with his usual blank stare with mild curiosity hidden inside.

She moved to look at Kakashi, really look at him. She gasped.

"Your eyes," her words coming out in a shocked breath, "they're so young…"

She turned to the other two and spread her chakra out and gasped when it made contact with the first two. It wasn't Naruto, and Sasuke actually was a girl, no pranks or illusions. Sakura looked into the face of the blonde man and took an involuntary step backwards. She knew this face, hell, everyone knew this face. It was the face of the Yondaime.

Sakura kept taking small steps backwards, head moving to look from one face to the other. The three opposite her were starting to worry about the rosette.

"No way! This…it's… can't be!" She started to hyperventilate. Kakashi stepped forward, arms outstretched in a peaceful gesture.

"No! No! This isn't real! You –can't- be real!" Her eyes kept glancing back and forth between them, her breath coming fast and shallow. Thoughts whipped around her head, all the thoughts of Kakashi's past, of the Yondaime and what he had done, his future, her past. It was too much, her feet stopped moving as her mind shut down.

Sakura looked to her left, at the masked shinobi. "Kakashi…" was the barely heard breath. She collapsed. Kakashi caught her before she hit the ground and shifted until she was safely nestled in his arms, like a bride being carried across the threshold.

He looked over to Arashi-sensei with a raised eyebrow. He nodded and the pair quickly faded into the night.

"What's Kakashi going to do with that girl? Who was she anyway? And why did she attack you Sensei?"

Arashi turned to look at Rin, "I'm not sure who she is, let alone why she attacked us. Come on Rin. We should go report this to the Hokage."

She nodded and the two jogged the remaining distance to the Tower. The Hokage heard their story and said it would be dealt with in the morning. Bidding him goodnight, they left for their separate ways.

*****

Brilliant morning sunlight fell across pink hair strewn upon the pillow. Closed eyes scrunched even tighter to prevent the morning from entering. Realizing the futility of such an act, bleary green eyes smudged open. Not recognizing the immediate surroundings, the young woman shifted from her side to her back and stared up at the ceiling above. An off white color with a curious pattern of cracks that looked remarkably similar to the Hokage's mountain. It was Kakashi's room. She and the boys had crashed at their former sensei's apartment a fair bit in the last year or so.

She smiled. "Kakashi." It was whisper soft, but the name being vocalized suddenly brought forth memories from the night before. Her body snapped up. Kakashi! With the Yondaime! This was just weird. Sakura paused. Actually, no it wasn't. It was impossible.

She must've had something to drink with the boys and Kakashi and this was the result. Her drunk and in Kakashi's bed so her parents wouldn't find out. She moved from her Indian sitting position to the window.

Smiling, she breathed in the morning air. Since the first time Kakashi had allowed them into his house (about a year after Naruto came back with Sasuke), Sakura had always loved the view from this window best. It was the view one would get from the Hokage Mountain, though not quite as high.

Leafy green trees spread throughout the village, red roofs added more colour to the vibrancy of the life inside the city gates.

"Nice view isn't it?"

She smile widened, even though he couldn't see it. "It is! I've always envied you this view. Be warned, when you die, I'm buying your house!"

She spun around walked over to him, pecked him on the cheek and made her way to the front door.

"Thanks for letting me stay Kakashi! I can't imagine my parents enjoying the sight of me drunk!" She chuckled. "I'll pop in with them and then I'll meet up with you and the boys later. Ja!"

She opened the door and was met with a kunai and a fierce glare.

"You're not going anywhere. You are effectively my prisoner until the Hokage figures out what to do with you."

She raised an eyebrow. He'd used similar situations as training before. Just never right after she woke up from a 'hangover'. Which was suspiciously absent in the man in front of her. She never had to worry about hangovers, and neither did Naruto, but the other two did. She snickered.

Quickly batting the kunai away, she lashed out with a kick that sent the cyclops into the apartment hall.

Dashing back to the bedroom, Sakura jumped out the window and pulled off a complicated move involving loose shingles and the laundry lines below her.

Wondering why Kakashi hadn't attacked her yet, she risked a look backwards. The vision on a stumped and mildly astonished Kakashi sent her into a fit of giggles as she ran away, further into the village.

*~*~*~*~*

Kakashi glared at the pink haired girl. Did she think this was a game? Maybe she was a spy, and if so, he had just let her get the best of him. He raced after her into his bedroom with a smirk. He knew from personal experience that there was no way out through there.

He had taken away her weapons as she slept, and there were far too many laundry lines crisscrossing to make for a clean escape without any weapons to cut a path.

Yet when he reached the window scant seconds after she jumped, Kakashi saw the young woman in red flipping through the wire like a seasoned acrobat. As she raced off across the roof tops she glanced back and giggled.

He glared. No one giggled at him. Running as fast as he could around other civilians who had heard the noise, he eventually took to running on the ceiling. As soon as he made it outside Kakashi jumped to the nearest roof and then took a chakra powered jump straight up.

Spinning in a slow circle in the air he found the flash of pink that he was looking for. She was running for the central market. Doubtless she would use a gengutsu to hide her more obvious features.

Kakashi smirked as he ran after her. Finally the sharingan would be tested outside of training.

*~*~*~*

Sakura smiled as she quietly dropped into small alley. Using her immense chakra control she altered the genetic code for her hair and eyes. It was a recent project that she and Tsunade had been working on.

When she opened her eyes, Sakura stepped out of the alley with generic black hair in two curly pigtails and dark brown eyes. Pulling her centre in as close as she could, she made her chakra level equal to that of a civilian.

Not even Kakashi knew about this little trick of hers. She'd begun work on it soon after she, Shizune and Tsunade had found the genetic coding for hair and eye colour. It had been a chance discovery by Sakura, but together the three of them delved into the research and uncovered a lot of information.

It was during that the Sakura mused on the ability to change her looks without the use of gengutsu, which some shinobi *cough*Kakashi and Sasuke*cough* could see through.

Tsunade had continued it with the mimicry of chakras. She had not yet perfected that, but was good enough to pass a casual purveyance. Anything deeper and she could be distinguished from the real thing.

Browsing the stands, Sakura bought a bowl of miso ramen (Naruto had gotten her addicted to the dumb stuff) and wandered about, looking at wares, trying on accessories and enjoying the life of a civilian. It had been so long since she'd done this without it being a mission or just buying shinobi materials.

A glimpse of spiky silver hair caught her eye. Ducking into the nearest clothing stall Sakura picked out a long-sleeved, medium coloured purple happi* coat that went to just above mid-thigh. Tying a bright yellow obi around her trim waist, Sakura let the bottom half of the coat fall open. Keeping her black shorts on, she traded her shinobi sandals for a pair of cute black flats.

Buying a small assortment of elastics and pins she pulled her hair up into a messy bun and pinned it so it would not fall out.

Stepping back into the bright morning light, she bought some dango to munch on while she walked. Seeing Kakashi glare at every person he walked past she giggled and ran up to him.

"Shinobi-san! Shinobi-san!" A panicked look appeared in his visible eye as he glanced around to see if there was anyone other than him.

"Can I help you miss?" Internally gloating, Sakura adopted a cute look on her face. She scuffed her foot in the dirt and clasped her hands behind her back.

Forcing a blush to her cheeks and lowered her eyes. Kakashi gave an almost-audible groan when he saw the blush. This was why he wore the damn mask!

"Well, see, I've seen you around the village and while I don't know your name, I think you're very handsome and was wondering if, maybe, you'd like to…ummm….go out with me?" The last part was a whisper with her hands nervously clasped in front of her face.

Kakashi looked at the girl and felt like smacking her around the head. Honestly! What was wrong with females?! She didn't even know his name! He was well-known with a few other main villages, least of all his own! And this dumb chit didn't even know!

He closed his eye in an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, but my mission schedule is very busy right now and I don't have much of a personal life-"

Sakura glanced up, hopeful. "Then, maybe when you complete your missions?"

Kakashi grimaced. "We'll see. But I have to go report at the Hokage Tower now, so if you'll excuse me."

Sakura bowed and when she stood straight, Kakashi was nowhere in sight. Smiling, completely sure that her 'crush' on him would keep him away from her she turned about, intent on enjoying her day.

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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Sakura bowed and when she stood straight, Kakashi was nowhere in sight. Smiling, completely sure that her 'crush' on him would keep him away from her she turned about, intent on enjoying her day._

*~*~*~*~*

Kakashi finally gave up when evening fell. He'd been out looking for the girl for an endless amount of time. He also had to avoid that demented pigtailed female. Shuddering, Kakashi thought about how she always seemed to be in his favorite areas.

It was far scarier than any shinobi he could've come up against, it was a stalker fan-girl. She knew his favorite spots better than he did!

Wearily opening the door, he shuffled inside, clicked the lock and ran a hand through his hair as he close his eyes. Walking to his room by memory, Kakashi was ready to flop onto the bed in anger, resignation, disgust and fall asleep before trying to find the pink haired chit again.

Unfortunately for him, that plan of action was ruined by a familiar giggle. A silver eye snapped open and Kakashi gapped quickly before glaring at the girl on his bed.

"Do you normally break into people's houses?"

Merry brown eyes looked up at him the girl smiled. "Oh, I didn't break in! You brought me here yourself."

And promptly ignored him in favor of the boxes of pocky spread around the bed.

"Miss, I did not bring you into my apartment at any point in time, and I'm quite sure that if I had I would know about it. Now I've had a very trying day, and would greatly appreciate it if you would pack up your things and go."

Sakura looked at the young man in front of her and wondered how this polite teen became the sensei that taught her. Huh. She smirked internally.

"You were looking for a girl with pink hair ne? Had sea-green eyes? Red outift with white trim?"

Kakashi's eyes snapped onto the girl when she mentioned the menace that had escaped him. He half-growled.

"What do you know about her? Where is she? Are you hiding her? Tell me!"

A raised black eyebrow was his answer. Sakura mentally snorted. Really, if she grew up under the man and faced his 'terrifying face' at least once a week, what made him think she would be intimidated by this puppy growl?

"I know she disguised herself and ran off-"

"Dammit!" Kakashi punched a wall. Sakura had never seen him so blatant in his anger and felt like whistling. Oh what she wouldn't do with this information when she got back.

"And she probably impregnated herself with your child so she can blackmail you. Probably gonna end up looking like Maito Gai too. Creepy child that will be…"

Hearing no response, Sakura slyly glanced at Kakashi while munching on a stick of orange pocky. Wasn't quite as good as ramen, but she wanted sugar at the moment and salt just didn't fill that need.

The cyclops was still glaring the hole he punched in that wall. Skaura rolled her eyes, men.

"And gave herself black hair, brown eyes and civvy clothes so you wouldn't notice her. Used her money, used yours when she ran out, bought a large supply of pocky and is currently sitting on your bed."

Really, if he missed that, then Sakura wouldn't feel the least bit guilty if he got a demotion. Actually, it would be amusing to know that she caused it! She giggled and brought a chocolate pocky stick to her mouth.

It disappeared before it got inside. Feeling a thunderhead above her, she glance up, completely innocent and looked into a stormy silver eye. She wasn't scared. The swirling tomoe of his Sharingan eye on the other hand gave her a few chills. Bad memories of her capture by Itachi. Sasuke had come to rescue her-

"Can I help you?"

"You are the pink haired girl from yesterday?" His voice was menacingly quiet.

Knowing how few pink haired people there were in the history of Konoha, Sakura had created a believable story to push that aside.

"I am."

No sense in giving out free information. If he wanted to know more, he could ask. Another annoying tactic taught to her by the annoyingly pervy jounin in the (current) future.

His fingers were boring holes in the wall behind her. Hmmm, he must be angry. Sakura giggled again.

"Stop giggling!" A kunai appeared at her throat. "Unless you're a spy, you would've had no reason to run away from me. So the only conclusion is that you are a spy, sent from another village to find out Konoha's secrets."

"Well, technically, that's not the only conclusion. You could have startled me into running when you first threatened me. Or I could've thought it was a training exercise created by my sensei. Or I simply could've been having too fun, especially when you _didn't_ find me, to end the game! Really, you should be more open minded Kakashi."

"Why is your hair black?" Sakura paused, shouldn't he be asking more pertinent questions? Really, at a time like this all he could wonder about was her hair colour?? Or maybe he was trying to lull her into a false sense of security before he pounced.

"My hair was pink because of a prank my friend pulled on me. It wore off before you found me."

Moving back to her more interesting pocky Sakura carefully observed her Mango, Banana and Honey, classic Strawberry and Mint Chocolate flavors. Reaching out for the mint chocolate, she was suddenly and quite rudely ripped off the bed and forced to follow a fairly demanding pace behind Kakashi.

Sending a quick glance at the forlornly empty bed, Sakura sent out a chakra string to grab a box and bring it back to her. Kakashi either didn't notice because he was too angry or he simply didn't care.

Happily munching on her sugar, Sakura made no complaints about being dragged around the village. She knew Kakashi was leading them to the Hokage Tower. And, since civilians and shinobi alike had to go there, it was a very public route that they took.

Sakura took great relish in calling out cutsie nicknames to Kakashi and commenting on how various items would look in their new house; or how she wanted to have children, and when would he step up to the plate.

Suffice to say, Kakashi had a red face, visible behind his mask, when he slammed open the door to Hokage's office.

Sakura frowned at the two men giggling over a book that was clearly a work in progress.

"I realize that you are perverted men, but could at least try to put it away when company comes to call? No one really wants to know about the personal lives of such public figure-heads!"

It was the Toad Sannin that responded. "Aww, it's okay. It's just Kakashi and I'm already working him into the ranks."

Sakura smacked her forehead muttering about idiotic men and innuendo. "Maybe so, but I highly doubt you've ever seen me and thus should try to act presentable. For all you know I could be an important, up and coming figure from another village."

This time it was the Sandaime, "But you are with Kakashi, who is holding your hand in a familiar fashion and has a very flushed face. So he obviously knows you in some way. Perhaps in a more intimate way than you would like to admit-"

He was cut off by a very pissed off dark haired beauty who was easily holding him three feet off the ground with only a few fingers. Her other hand was crackling with raw chakra, itching to slam into the village leader.

"I may only be a civilian, but my mother did teach me some of the shinobi arts. I suggest you hold your tongue and be more careful about what you say to those you don't know."

Normally brown eyes were glowing a dark, menacing purple. Sandaime, thought inwardly a little more scared than he would have like to admit, kept a composed face and nodded. He was let go and gracefully landed on his feet, barely stumbling against the desk.

"And in the future I might suggest the same for you as well. It's not good policy to go about assaulting a neighboring village's Hokage. It could cause your village quite a bit of trouble."

The menacing female was abruptly all smiles with rainbows and hearts radiating from her person. "But see that's the thing! I -do- know you! And you also know me, though not yet. Isn't it wonderful? I love holding power over people. No wonder Itachi went crazy…"

All three men stared at the teenage girl. Why were the good looking ones always insane? Sandaime shook his head and asked why they were here. Kakashi told of the previous day's happenings from his point of view before Sakura took over.

"As there is no way for me to prove my story, you'll just have to trust me about a few things. I am shinobi of the Leaf but I doubt I will continue."

Kakashi's voice was hard. "A shinobi is a shinobi until the day they die. You cannot just release yourself from a duty the binds you to the protection of the city."

"Ah, but see, the beauty of that, is I'm not duty bound to the city! In fact, technically I'm not even here. Well I am, but I'm not. You know?" No one did.

Sakura sighed. How to do this…? If only she had something from the future… A light bulb went off. Quickly turning to Jiraiya she posed a question.

"You're a seal master right?" Jiraiya nodded cautiously. "Alright. Is it possible for me to write a document and have you seal it so that only certain parts can be read after certain times?"

Jiraiya turned serious and thought for a moment. "Theoretically it should be. Can't say I've ever tried it before."

"Alright! Here's what's gonna happen. I'm going to write a document. Each section will relate to a specific date. Jiraiya will seal the document so that it is impossible to read until that date has passed. And once it is finished being read, it be sealed back into its container where no one can get at it.

"In the meantime, since as you said people will think that Kakashi and I are together, in some way, we will go from there. Our parents arranged a marriage between us when we were children. Unfortunately, because of Kakashi's family's death, he is the new Family Head and it is up to him to decide if he wants to still do this. My parents have waited until he was of an appropriate age to understand before telling him of this arrangement.

"Kakashi has allowed for a six-month trial basis where we will get to know each other and see if a marriage is compatible. I am a civilian and my father was an old friend of Kakashi's father. I know all the appropriate lady arts and will say that my family is small and newly ennobled. That should put me off the radar, but I'll need your help to create a paper trail.

I will have been told stories of Kakashi ever since I was a child, which is why I know him more so than he seems to know me. That will explain my presence and people will get used to me. You'll have to think up something to tell Arashi-sensei and Rin-chan 'cause they'll definitely spot holes. Kakashi, you can do that.

So let's say we meet in…oh a week today? I'll have written everything by then and gotten Jiraiya's help with the sealing. Then, hopefully, when you read that, you'll begin to trust me. Sound good?" She didn't wait for a response.

"Wonderful! In that case Hokage-sama, I need to set up a new passport, bank account and get a job, even though my family allows me money, I prefer to stay busy and integrate myself into society that way. If you want to tell the village, that's up to Kakashi, I'll follow his lead on this."

Sandaime nodded and set about pulling up citizenship forms, bank information and altogether far too much paper to be dealing with this late in the day. Kakashi stared blandly at the female and old man in front of him.

How is it that just last night he had been fine with his solitary life and today he had to deal with finding a fugitive who managed to escape him ALL DAY and is now his fiancée? His mother had instilled manners in him and he would be polite in public, but behind closed doors, ooh that girl better watch herself!

*~*~*~*~*

Sakura smiled at the Sandaime and all the forms. She had signed everything, including her new identification papers under her new name. Sunameri Suiren, the Water Lily of the Black Ocean Porpoise family. It was a matrilineal family, though she would be, maybe, marrying into a patriarchal line.

Placing her important papers in an inside pocket of her jacket, she found Kakashi asleep on a couch. Smiling she picked him. Getting the Hokage to put a gengutsu on the two of them so it looked like their positions were flipped, the newly christened Suiren jumped out a window and leapt across rooftops to get to Kakashi's apartment as quickly as possible.

*~*~*~*~*

Kakashi woke up in his own bed. Shaking his head to get rid of the cobwebs, he passed through the living room to get to the kitchen. A small body with far too much hair was curled up on the couch. Frowning at her he made himself a cup of coffee.

Suiren's nose twitched at the strong scent of coffee. Blindly standing up, she sniffed the air and clumsily made her way to the kitchen. Yanking the cupboard door open and groping around for a mug, she slammed it on the counter.

Burning her fingers in a search for the pot, the liquid sloshed into the mug as she poured. More than a few drops splattered over the edge. With sludgy movements the mug was brought to her mouth and the steaming hot liquid chugged down.

Kakashi reached out a hand to stop her. The liquid was steaming! Was she stupid!? Brown eyes snapped open at the heat of the sudden caffeine intake. Panting steam, Suiren shook her head.

"Wooh! Damn that's hot! Ha! Okay, I'm awake!" She turned to an opened mouthed Kakashi, "Well? What are we going to do today? Actually whatever you plan to do can wait. I need you to show me to the bank and other places where I can set up my life here. And I need to go shopping!"

Kakashi grimaced at her sickeningly sweet smile.

*~*~*~*

Kakashi groaned as Suiren spotted another store. They had spent two hours in the bank, Kakashi doing nothing but sitting in a chair, staring blindly at the porridge coloured walls. The next three hours had been spent looking for a place to live. And a job, so she could pay for the new place. The Hokage had given her a sufficient sum to start up her life. She would pay it back, over a set time period they had set up.

A brief lunch on the go and the horror started. Thankfully, the girl seemed to have some brains and had a sealing scroll with her and put all of her purchases in that. Kakashi just had to follow along, like a puppy following his master.

It was entirely too degrading. Especially when other ninja happened to walk by. And it happened far too often for his liking. In fact, he was pretty sure Jiraiya and the Hokage had set them up to the task.

Almost walking into the stopped form of Suiren, Kakashi sent the dark haired girl a half glare.

"Deciding it's not worth it?" Her head tilted.

"Maybe. I quite like the clothes that they have, and from the looks of it, they aren't that popular. So I feel like a have to give them some business. As it stands though, I do have enough clothes to last me for a while. And the shop will still be there in a month or whenever I decide to go shopping again."

She smiled at him. "So yes, we're done. You can go back to your apartment and sag against your couch and flip aimlessly through channels without really looking at any of them."

His glare hardened.

Her grin widened even more. "Just so you know, the Hokage is going to announce our 'engagment', as it were, to the village tomorrow around mid morning. Thought you might want to know."

"And when did you find this out?"

"He sent me a message earlier."

"And he didn't think to tell me why?" A quirked eyebrow was his response.

"Porbably because he knew that you wouldn't care. Or maybe he just felt like yanking your chain by not telling you and letting you get the information second hand. And there's no way you can slip out of being there either."

The grin changed to a smirk. "As much as you hate public events, as this concerns the engagement of the last of a clan, you have to be there. And you can't be late. So I'll make sure that you're up early, and dressed properly. See you tomorrow morning, bright and early!"

And the curvy figure, clad in the same clothes as the previous day, walked off toward her new apartment. Kakashi stared at her back until she disappeared.

The whole village was going to know he was now engaged. And it was something he had no control over. He had always done his best to avoid females, and now he was engaged.

Well, fuck.

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End file.
